1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to open-close means for a fill opening of a fuel tank of a vehicle such as an automobile, and to a fuel filling method using the open-close means.
2. Description of Background Art
Recently, a self-service fuel filling system for enabling a user to fill fuel in the fuel tank of the vehicle by himself/herself has been introduced to dispense with a filling-station attendant and cut fueling costs. The existing self-service fuel filling system, however, involves the drawback that a user must handle or operate the fuel nozzle by himself/herself, so that there is the possibility that a fuel spill may be caused.
Moreover, existing proposed automatic fuel filling systems need a means to strictly position the vehicle and data for the position of the supply portion of a fuel tank for every type of car or other vehicle. Also, the vehicle needs a special recognition means for sending data from the car or other vehicle to the fuel filling robot. For this reason, the spread of automatic oil supply equipment for cars or other vehicles does not progress.
It is the object of the invention to facilitate introduction of a fuel filling robot (or a fuel dispensing robot) by using an open-close mean for fill opening of a fuel tank with a position identifying mean which is a transmitter having a solar battery mounted on open-close portion of the fuel tank.
To accomplish the object above, the invention provides a novel open-close means for a fill opening of a fuel tank of a vehicle. Open-close means for a fill opening of a fuel tank of a vehicle comprising an open-close portion for opening and closing the fill opening and a position identifying member which is a transmitter having a solar battery and is integrally mounted to the open-close portion.
According to the invention, when a fuel filling robot introduced is provided with any suitable detecting means for detecting the position identifying member, the fuel filling robot comes to detect the position identifying means to bring its fuel nozzle into place of the fuel opening of the fuel tank of the vehicle. This enables the fuel to be filled in the fuel tank, irrespective of type of motor vehicle, and as such can facilitate the introduction of the fuel filling robots into a fuel station (a self-service gas station, in particular).
Preferably, a transmitter having a solar battery is used as the position identifying member. This can provide the advantage that the signals can be output from the transmitter without any additional power source.
The position identifying member may be integrally mounted to the open-close portion. This can provide the advantage that the existing open-close means for the fill opening (i.e., the fill cap on the fill opening) can be applied to the fuel filling robot with ease by simply replacing it with the open-close means having the position identifying means of the invention.
Also, the invention is directed to a novel fuel filling method using the open-close means having the position identifying member.
According to the fuel filling method using the open-close means of the invention, when a driver stops the vehicle at a specified position in a gas station or a self-service gas station and opens a fill opening cover, the fuel filling robot with detecting means automatically detects the position identifying member at the fill opening of the fuel tank of the vehicle to bring the fuel nozzle into position of the fill opening and also move it into the fill opening. In association with the movement of the fuel nozzle into the fill opening, the open-close means is actuated to open to commence the automatic fuel filling and, after completion of the filling of fuel, the fuel nozzle is retracted from the fill opening and the open-close means is closed. This can eliminate the need for a user to handle the self-service gasoline pump and the fuel nozzle, such that the fuel is filled in the fuel tank in safety and reliably.